Indigenous activist taken by military police in Honduras Indigenous, campesino, Garifuna and human rights organizations are denouncing state complicity in an escalation of violence in the Honduran countryside. They say impunity reigns as corporations freely exploit Honduras’ natural resources. Organizers say today, the national police arrested a community leader without an arrest warrant. FSRN’s Tim Russo has more. Early this morning, troops from the Honduran National Police burst into the home of Lenca indigenous community leader Desiderio Mendez, dragging him off at gunpoint. The Council for Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras denounced the action as a kidnapping. The human rights group says Mendez is the primary witness in a case against the Honduran Military for the killing of Lenca leader Tomas Garcia earlier this summer. Both men were protesting the installation of a hydroelectric project on Lenca lands in the western part of the country. Further east in the Bajo Aguan region, more than 160 campesino families were forcibly displaced from the San Isidro Community earlier this week. Witnesses say approximately 500 soldiers violently evicted campesinos encamped on a long-disputed African palm farm. The campesinos have held legal ownership of the land since June 2012. Another indigenous land rights advocate, Jose Maria Pineda, received a death threat nailed to her door on Tuesday. Three Tolupan indigenous leaders working with Pineda in opposition to a mining project in Yoro, Honduras were gunned down at a roadblock on August 25th. Human rights groups point to a building wave intimidation and violence against local communities who stand up to international natural resource projects in the country. Tim Russo, FSRN.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 23:11:52 +0000
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